Between Blonds
by Herald Aros
Summary: [twoshot] A day at the beach, a night alone...[Roxidus] [PostKH2]
1. The Perfect Day

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts.

Warning: Roxidus. Yes, Roxas's name can pair up with just about anyone else's. This is the first Roxas/Tidus fic on FF.N (should I be excited or worried?); at least, any others on here are parts of oneshot collections. Assuming that they _do_ exist, which isn't something I would put money on.

Other: This started out as the idea for a humor fic, as evidenced by the first section (which remains because it makes everything else at least partially make sense). Oh, and this is a two-shot, meaning that there WILL be another chapter after this one.

_The Perfect Day_

Sora grinned as he stared at his image in the mirror of his admittedly cramped bathroom. On the counter were several open bottles, their caps either popped open or scattered across the cluttered surface. Sora didn't mind any of that, though. What he cared about was his hair, and the wonderful prank that he would use it for.

---

I spent that morning doing my usual wake-up routine, which was mostly of rolling out of bed (literally), grabbing a bliztball and flipping it around in some pretty cool moves, dragging myself down the hall into the bathroom, pounding on the door until dad finally got out, trading some insults that were probably lame because it was too early for us to think up good ones, showering, getting dressed, and then raiding the kitchen for some sort of caffeinated soda. After I was fully awake, I insulted dad some more (it was mutual), asked mom for breakfast, made gagging noises when my parents kissed, and quickly ran out of the house. I did _not_ want to stick around when my parents started doing any of that crap. It's just...gross.

I wandered around the island. Finally, I decided to take my boat over to the other island and hopefully get a good view of Kairi and Selphie in their bikinis, minus the overprotective boyfriends (or, in Sora's case, not-quite-boyfriend).

When I got there, it was completely empty. No girls, no boys, and even Riku had abandoned his usual perch on the paopu tree.

I was just about to give up and go back when I saw something. A flash of blonde hair. I squinted; of the seven kids on the Islands with blonde hair, three were boys and six were natural. However, I'd never seen this one before; at least, I didn't immediately recognize them, whoever they were.

Shrugging, I jogged over to them, noting that they were male and that he really wasn't someone that I knew. He had gold hair that was spiked up in front but laid down in back, and when I tapped his shoulder to get his attention, he turned and I saw that he had pretty blue eyes. Pretty like Sora and Kairi's are, all bright and happy. Not like mine, or Riku's.

His face was pretty too, but not quite enough to get him beat up as being too "girl-ish." I had run into that, for some reason; I don't think I look like a girl at all, but some older kids at school evidently did. Of course, those were the ones that most kids make a point of avoiding, so that isn't saying much.

Anyway, back to the pretty boy. His mouth was kinda twitching, like he wanted to smile but was forcing it back. I smirked; so he was challenging me! Great! I can make _anybody_ smile!

Besides, it couldn't be too hard. Especially if he was already beginning to crack. Wait...I hadn't said anything yet. I'd just been staring at him. Oops, that probably didn't look good.

Trying to cover it up, I jerked my head a bit and gave him a big smile. "Er, sorry 'bout that...just sort of zoned out, you know? Anyway, my name's Tidus. Who're you? I haven't seen you around..."

The blond just looked at me for a long moment, and I wondered if there was something on my face. Did my breath stink? I had showered, so I wasn't reeking (anymore, that is)...

After the second awkward silence, he finally smiled, but it was kinda thin and it didn't look like his heart was in it. I almost frowned; that was no good! It didn't even really count as a smile!

"Er, I'm...Roxas. I, uh, I'm from Twilight Town." His words sent off a bunch of warning bells in my head, but luckily I hit the mute and didn't have to deal with them for the rest of the day. He was just shy, and it was painfully obvious. He was looking down and scuffing his shoe in the sand, shifting from foot to foot and not looking me in the eye.

I resolved then and there that it was my job to make sure that he knew where everything was, who to talk to and who it was safe to beat up. I'd be his guardian, of sorts. Yeah! That'd make an excellent excuse for later, if- no, _when_- we hung out together without the others. I don't know why, but my mind made all those decisions in about five seconds flat. Or maybe my heart did; Sora's always going on and on about the power of the heart. Maybe my heart manipulated my brain into helping it with its evil scheme. Without telling the rest of me.

"So, you're new here? That's pretty cool. D'you want me to show you where everything is?" I'm not exactly the most patient person in the world; I was already grabbing his hand and tugging it, a silent order to follow me. I was always the leader whenever we teenagers did something, unless Riku or Sora was there. Riku got by on looks and a brain to kill for, while Sora dominated groups by sheer force of personality. As such, they were destined to either be the worst of enemies or the best of friends- maybe something more, because I think that Kairi would be nice enough to share Sora with Riku. I have no idea why; Sora's actually pretty good looking now that we weren't little kids anymore, and he's definitely in love with Kairi (probably in like with Riku as well, though). But that's all beside the point.

Roxas let me drag him around and point stuff out to him, and sometimes he'd ask me questions about the other kids. We hit all the high points, and then went down to the lower beach and just stood there. It wasn't even noon yet, so I don't know what he was staring at, but his gaze was kinda...hungry, as if he wanted to eat the island up so that it would be a part of him forever. ...You know what, I don't like that description. It sounds too creepy for someone like Roxas.

After what seemed like ages, he started walking toward the pier. At first I thought that he was heading for my boat, but then he sat down on the edge, like Selphie used to, and he stared out at the ocean again.

I never thought that I could sit in one place, without talking or moving more than the occasional stretch, for hours at a time. But I did, that day. We watched as the sun slowly sank, and there was a sort of timeless feeling in the air as twilight approached, an almost physical charge that brushed against my skin and left my arms and face feeling tingly.

When it was officially twilight, Roxas turned to me, and smiled. Not the small one from before, but a true _smile_. One that lit up his eyes and made him look like an angel, and I swear that even time itself stopped to admire that boy's face.

"Thanks Tidus. I had a great time." I froze; that sounded sorta like what a person says after a date...

Then he stood up and walked off the pier. I twisted around to watch as he went down the beach, without turning to look back. I finally lost sight of him as night fell, the darkness swallowing him up.

I never saw Roxas again.


	2. The Despair of Love

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts in any way, shape, or form. If I did own it, I'd want to get it the clean way, in the _shape_ of a highly legal and totally honest **form** of ownership. Preferably in triplicate.

Warnings: Er, mentioned Sokai and slight mentioned Sokairiku if you squint. Not-so-light Akuroku (because it's tragic, and, hello, look at the genres) and sorta-heavy Roxidus (my new favorite made-up pairing because blonds are so the bomb and Roxas needs Tidus's inspiration more than fairy!Yuna does.)

Other: My heart was screaming for me to let up on the ending and then I thought up the last line and went "omg must use" and so I did. Yes I'm hyper right now (phear me, grrr!) it's too early/late for me to still be up but it's not like I care. So, yeah, tragic ending, and the romance plays fast and loose with Roxas's leet Nobody skillz because he's that cool. And yeah, I use leet-speak when I'm hyper/tired. It's only used in jest, and only up here, so please don't report me. ;.; Oh, and again, yeah, the title is corny. It's the best I could come up with, and is subject to change.

_The Despair of Love_

Sora rowed his boat home in silence. Normally he would be celebrating a successful prank, but something about the look in Tidus's eyes that day had knocked him off balance. On top of that, he was worried about a blank spot in his memory. He had been sitting on the pier, talking to Roxas, and then he had been walking down the beach in the dark.

---

I rested as Sora tied his boat up and walked home. I rested as he washed the dye and gel out of his hair. I rested as he climbed into bed and fell asleep, and then I stopped resting and started reminiscing.

It hadn't been a long day, but it had been interesting. First there had been Sora's idea, but that had seemed to be dead when we reached the island and found no one there. I had been looking forward to a day of training and relaxation (not in chronological order, of course), but then the blond boy had showed up.

This, of course, forced me to tell Sora how _I_ would react, **every single time** Tidus said or did something. I may have been made from him, but we're nothing alike. Really.

At first I didn't really like Tidus. Sure, he seemed nice and all, but he had stopped my barely-formed plans from reaching completion. On top of that, he was forcing Sora to bug me every few seconds, which was really annoying. Thankfully, quiet is one of my main traits, and I tend to stop and think before responding anyway, so Sora was able to keep up the act.

Then Sora and Tidus had sat on the pier, and Sora had chatted my ear off. Mentally chatted my nonexistent ear, of course. Everything he "said" was about Tidus; how Tidus had acted when they were kids, how much Tidus had grown, and how Tidus sure was acting differently today, and did I happen to know why?

Naturally, this prompted a sarcastic answer, in the form of "Well, I don't know, maybe he has a crush on me?" Sora freaked out. No, really, he did. All in his head, of course; I wouldn't betray any mental upheaval, so neither could he.

After a few minutes of him ranting about how that was impossible, how Tidus was straighter than straight and besides, it's not like I liked him back or anything, I felt the need to cut him off. Since sarcasm was already firmly lodged in my thoughts, I told him that maybe I did like Tidus back.

I thought that he would freak out again, maybe throw a mental tantrum or two, but instead he was quiet. For all of five minutes. Anyone who knows Sora knows that this is a sign; either it's because someone else is talking (for five minutes, though, that's probably a rant or a lecture), he's distracted (unless Kairi or Riku have suddenly taken up skinny dipping, I doubt anything could hold him for that long), or sometimes, it's because he's thinking. For someone like Sora, who may not be a genius but tends to notice things like patterns, a five-minute thought-process is...well, not exactly _bad_, but...worrying.

Then, suddenly, he said, "if that's the way you feel, then...I'm sorry." Just like that.

So it was my turn to think. Great. Just _wonderful_; Sora believed me, and was feeling guilty, for some odd– and probably dumb– reason.

...But Sora wouldn't do something like that. Not without checking first, if it was at all possible. And since it _was_ possible, he had obviously done it. He had scanned our heart, and found some tie to Tidus that made him think that I actually liked the boy.

Wasn't that interesting?

So I checked as well. To be perfectly honest, I was afraid, afraid of what I would find, afraid that Sora was right.

Afraid that the heart I didn't rightfully own in the first place was slowly attaching itself to a boy that I had met only hours ago, and had never technically met at all.

Sure enough, a tie was there. Weak, wavering, and looking utterly pathetic, there was a small little line of light extending from Tidus's heart to ours, Sora's and mine.

It was so weak...so very thin, shivering in every spiritual breeze that hit it, trembling, like Tidus's smile when I glanced at him with eyes that he shouldn't have been able to see...

No. Bad, wrong, no. Love was for people who could afford it– people who could handle the loss of the other. Love was for people with a heart to hold it.

Basically, love was not for me.

I had made my mistake with Axel. I had loved him as my best friend– and maybe more, but there was too little time to explore it, to find out whether it ran deeper in our lost hearts– and had had that love ripped away from me, not once, not twice, but three times. When I walked away and broke his heart, when he disappeared and broke mine, and when he died and killed them both. The small bit of feeling that I had left, salvaged from Sora's heart when he became a heartless, was wrapped solely around my Other then. At first, that feeling was anger and hate, for being there when I could not, for watching as Axel's lost, broken heart died and doing nothing about it, but then I had known. Seen the hurt in his eyes, felt the sorrow in his heart, known that he was more heartbroken than I over the situation.

After all, he still had a heart to break. I didn't.

Not again, never again. I wouldn't do that to another person, and I don't think that I could do it to myself. Best to cut the tie, let it bleed a little and then scar over, to be replaced by another tie soon enough.

Sora would never agree. He would never allow me to hurt myself or someone else, especially a friend like Tidus. So I'd have to take over, and end the miserable existence of that frail, pitiful line before it turned into a double-edged sword and cut us both.

I engaged Sora in small talk, slowly gathering my power. I still had some left, and the oncoming twilight enhanced that. Nobodies are in-between creatures, and twilight is an in-between time; thus, we are at our strongest between day and night.

Tidus felt it, somehow; I could see the goosebumps on his skin, could feel his curious stare, could sense his hands twitch. I guess that being a spirit (at least technically) does have its bonuses, heightened awareness being the only one I could think of at that moment.

As soon as twilight had descended, I struck. Sora was peacefully out cold in seconds, without a hint of what had done it or why. I took over our still-conscious body by default and put my plan into action.

I turned to Tidus, and couldn't help but smile. He had a confused, slightly eager expression, as if he had known that something was about to happen, but had no clue as to what. I tried to think of something to say, but only the truth came to mind.

"Thanks Tidus. I had a great time." Well, it was perfectly honest. I remember that Olette had once said that to a boy she had dated, and Hayner had been livid when he found out. Judging by the dumbstruck look on his face, he had caught the subtext and understood what it meant.

Not knowing what else to say, I decided to say nothing at all. I just walked away. Away from Tidus, away from the tie, away from the potential heartbreak.

As darkness took control and chased away the twilight, I felt our tie weaken, and it twisted my heart.

A moment later, it roared to life, growing and glowing and defying the quick death that I had planned.

That moment, I learned despair.


End file.
